events

Our Artistic Director Valeria Orani and the journalist Graziano Graziani will have the pleasure to introduce you to the first edition of Italian and American Playwrights Project next Jul. 25th at 12.00 @Teatro Vascello - Roma

Alessandra Corona founded "A Corona Works" in New York City with a commitment to develop original artistic works that integrate dance, music, theater, video and film arts, for presentation in the United States and around the world. Her passion is to create art collaborating with professional artists from different performing art disciplines. Alessandra Corona has assembled remarkable and unique artists.

Amore Impossibile is a new dance-theater production choreographed by the innovative Italian choreographer Kristian Cellini. The inspiration and atmosphere comes from the romance ‘ The Lady of the Camellias’, revised in a contemporary version.Cellini’s work highlight the sentimental and passionate aspects of the eternal love between the main characters, with the help of a narrator and the original music by Thomas Lentakis. The expressive peak in the choreography will be emphasized by the music of Frederic Chopin.

Just Joy, choreographed by Guido Tuveri, is a collaboration with the artists celebrating the stages of life. It aims to show how even in times of difficulties and sorrow, dance will always bring passion and joy. The original music is by the American composer Thomas Lentakis.to learn more about the show and "A Corona Works" please visit www.acoronaworks.com

Loosely adapted from Eduardo De Filippo's Arte della commedia and translation of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Members of the Camorra on the run and actors seeking for authority meet after a shipwreck on an island-prison. The theatre turns into a free zone where everyone may not be able to recover their social role but for sure their humanity. Somebody can even get love back. Shakespeare and Eduardo De Filippo blend together in a picaresque comedy full of coup de théâtre.

FREE + Open to public. First come, first served.Join us for a day celebrating the legacy of Dario Fo with Robert Brustein, the legendary founder of the Yale Repertory Theatre and the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T) and Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Afternoon screenings curated by Rossella Menna.

Awarded the coveted National Medal for the Arts in 2011 by President Obama, Robert Brustein—a veteran of World War II—has been a playwright, critic, teacher, actor, director, and founder oftwo major repertory theatre companies, the Yale Repertory Theatre and the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard. Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Suffolk University, he is a former Professor of English at Harvard University (now Senior Research Fellow), and New Republic Theatre Critic for over forty years. He now writes regularly for the Huffington Post, and teaches Dramaturgy students at the Drama School. He was Dean of the Yale School of Drama for thirteen years, where he also founded Yale Theatre magazine and the Yale Cabaret. He served for 20 years as Director of the Loeb Drama Center where he founded the ART Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard.

Dario Fo (24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian actor-playwright, comedian, singer, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, painter, political campaigner for the Italian left-wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. Fo’s plays, in a hybrid Brechtian tradition, have been translated into 30 languages, and he was considered the most widely performed contemporary playwright in world theatre. Much of Fo’s dramatic work, co-created with his partner Franca Rame (18 July 1929 – 29 May 2013), depends on improvisation and comprises the recovery of “illegitimate” forms of theatre, such as those performed by giullari (medieval strolling players) and, more famously, the ancient Italian style of commedia dell’arte.His plays have been translated into 30 languages and performed across the world, including in Argentina, Chile, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, the UK[6] and Yugoslavia. His work of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s is peppered with criticisms of assassinations, corruption, organised crime, racism, Roman Catholic theology and war. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, he took to lampooning Forza Italia and its leader Silvio Berlusconi, while his targets of the 2010s included the banks amid the European sovereign-debt crisis.Fo’s solo pièce célèbre, titled Mistero Buffo and performed across Europe, Canada and Latin America over a 30-year period, is recognised as one of the most controversial and popular spectacles in postwar European theatre. The play has been denounced by by Cardinal Ugo Poletti from the Vatican as “the most blasphemous show in the history of television”. Fo considered himseld an atheist. The 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature marked the “international acknowledgment of Fo as a major figure in twentieth-century world theatre”. The Swedish Academy praised Fo as a writer “who emulates the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden”. Dario Fo owned and operated his own theatre company.

Richard Move/MoveOpolis!opens New York Live Arts Live Ideas 2017 with the world premiere of XXYY and Martha@20, a special performance celebrating the 20th anniversary of Martha@…

XXYYis a poetic and otherworldly dance-theater event exploring the multiplicities of the gender spectrum while deconstructing the conventional binaries of male and female. It combines Move’s highly stylized choreography and Alba Clemente’s inventive and elaborate costuming to create a provocative, alternative vision of the world. XXYY incorporates text from the obscure Autobiography of an Androgyne, written at the turn of the 20th century by Ralph Werther. The original sound score by Martux_m includes the Vatican’s Last Castrato, Alessandro Moreschi (1858–1922), the only castrato to make solo recordings. XXYYis performed by Move and longtime collaborators Catherine Cabeen and Katherine Crockett. Lighting design is by Donalee Katz.

The program also features Martha@20, an anniversary celebration of Move’s continuously evolving performance as legendary 20th-century icon Martha Graham. Having received a Bessie Award and accolades worldwide for their highly researched and nuanced portrayal of Graham, Move will present a special performance of Martha@… with monologues that illuminate Graham’s unparalleled career and restagings of Graham dances. Katherine Crockett, a former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, and Catherine Cabeen, a former member of the Graham Company, will again join Move in this performance.

Produced in Association with Patricia Field Art/Fashion and Slobodan Randjelović

The film tells of racism and intolerance through song that shows the sweetness of a forgotten rhythm. The unusual reality performative reaches peaks when the personal and social problems are intertwined.

FLAVIA MASTRELLA & ANTONIO REZZA deal with communicative arts, Their film Escoriandoli was presented at Venice Film Festival in 1996 and Il Passato è il mio Bastone in 2008. In 2006, their short film Il Piantone was shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Shangay. In the same year they made installations and performances at Bologna's GAM Gallery. They have won the Hysteria Prize, the Ubu Prize, and the Napoli Prize. In 2014, published by Il Saggiatore book "Clamori al vento". In 2016 they presented Pitecus at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York.

Piccolo Cafè is not just a place where daily-prepared Italian food is served , but also a place where worldwide artists and talents meet together to catch up, follow up on a project, network and find support to market their work in NY. An opportunity which Umanism could not possibly miss!Thirty-three-year-old Venezuelan artist Gino Alejandro will launch his first exhibition at Piccolo Cafè located at 274W 40th street in Manhattan on March 1stHere you will be able to catch the spirit of the city, get to know us and meet our friends. You will also catch a glimpse of how il feels like to live in NY - all through a black and white footage filtered by the eyes of a young photographer . Alejandro's work shows his meticulous study of light, and his passion about buildings and people, faces and souls, randomly caught during the day. His journey is a black and white journey made at a different time of the day. A day walking in NY with Gino and his camera, lens and his love for details is like going back and forth and being able to observe past and present of the City with a contemporary eye , where the future has become our present and is intertwined with our past and with those who settled here before us . Here the City is Itself the main feature hence the choice of black and white .

Gino Alejandro is a current student AT the New York Institute of Photography. He moved to NY to accomplish HIS dream, identify the magic of NY - capital of the world, under a different perspective. He also contributes to @rollingthecities instagram project with two other photographers that capture the essence of Barcelona, Spain and Buenos Aires in Argentina.

Gibney Dance

Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center

280 Broadway (Entrance at 53 A Chambers Street) New York

A Corona Works will be presenting "IMPOSSIBLE LOVE" choreographed by Kristian Cellini and “JUST JOY” choreographed by Guido Tuveri, the preview of the two original works starting at Gibney Dance Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center in New York prior to opening next June at the Baruck Theatre in New York

Alessandra Corona started A Corona Works in New York City to create and develop new multi-disciplinary projects. Corona’s goal is to make artistic works that integrate dance, music, theater, video and film arts, for presentation in the United States and around the world. Her passion is to create art collaborating with high-level professional artists from different performing art disciplines.

Impossible Love is a new dance-theater production choreographed by the innovative Italian choreographer Kristian Cellini. The inspiration and atmosphere comes from the romance ‘ The Lady of the Camellias’, revised in a contemporary version.

Cellini’s work highlight the sentimental and passionate aspects of the eternal love between the main characters, with the help of a narrator and the original music by Thomas Lentakis. The expressive peak in the choreography will be emphasized by the music of Frederic Chopin.

Just Joy, choreographed by Guido Tuveri, is a collaboration with the artists celebrating the stages of life. It aims to show how even in times of difficulties and sorrow, dance will always bring passion and joy. The original music is by the American composer Thomas Lentakis.

On December 5, 2016 The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center (The Graduate Center, CUNY) will host an Artist Talk with Italian playwright Stefano Massini about his work, the role of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, and contemporary theatre in Europe. FREE & Open to public.

The Italian Playwrights Project presents Something about the Lehmans, a conversation with playwright Stefano Massini about his work as well as the role of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano and contemporary theatre in Europe. At the artist talk, moderated by Dr. Frank Hentschker (The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Executive Director and Director of Programs), Massini will be joined by Valeria Orani (Umanism founder and director), and Giorgio Van Straten (Director of the Italian Cultural Institute of New York). The event will also feature a reading of an excerpt from Something about the Lehmans, translated by Allison Eikerenkoetter, directed by Marco Calvani, and performed by actor Robert Funaro.

omething About The Lehmans (Mondadori 2016) by Italian playwright Stefano Massini tells the story of the historic rise and fall of the Lehman Brothers investment house. The play premiered at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano-Teatro d’Europa in 2015 and was the last work of legendary Italian theatre director Luca Ronconi. It has since been produced widely in Europe. Oscar Award-winning director Sam Mendes will be staging The Lehman Trilogy.

After the event at The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, the audience is invited to meet the artists and curators of the Italian Playwrights Projects at the Umanism Fundraising After Party to support the Italian Playwrights Project activities. The After Party will take place at The Archive Bar (12E 36th St. New York). Suggested minimum donation of $50 includes VIP Pass with food and drink.

The Italian Playwrights Project was created by Valeria Orani (Umanism NY) and Frank Hentschker (The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center), in collaboration with The Italian Cultural Institute in New York, Giorgio Van Straten, Director. This event is made possible by the generous support of Joseph LoCicero/ The Segal Company.

The Italian Playwrights Project supports workshops with Italian playwrights in New York City with American actors, dramaturgs and translators. It also produces public presentations and readings of the plays in English as well as some excerpts in Italian. The initiative also produces the publication of a translated anthology of the selected Italian plays. This initiative is year-round with the mission to support the development of up to four playwrights' work over the course of a year.Donate now to support this project and promote Italian Culture!

Antonio Rezza and Flavia Mastrella will soon be in NYC for the first time to celebrate their 30-year-artsy relationship. The duo has been successfully acting together for quite some time in Europe and can soon be admired onstage with their most famous show Pitecus. The performance will take place at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York, from October 13-16. This is meant to be a very busy week due to the Italian American cultural festival taking place in the Big Apple.

Antonio Rezza and Flavia Mastrella do indeed create strange (unusual? ) idioms. Antonio acts solo as a co-protagonist amongst Flavia’s visual day-dreaming creations which take life onstage. Words meet form and play with each other, as drama reaches out to the feelings of the audience, which is constantly encouraged to participate in a game made of sounds, colours, shapes and misconstruction.

PITECUS opened in 1995 and has been running continuously since then. ‘It communicates with the mass by means of a mass-aesthetic taste which is a peculiar way of communicating per se’, say the authors. RezzaMastrella’s work can be defined as ‘unclassifiable’. Their act has been welcomed by non conventional stages, museums, art galleries and of course theatres in Italy and throughout Europe, as well as in Russia.

Their poetics has no barriers or boundaries, as it originates as an avant-garde expression in whicha young audience can easily identify itselfand values RezzaMastrella’s rebellion toward the idea of living conventionally.

Italian late director Giancarlo Nanni - who worked with Ellen Stewart at La MaMa and also at the Actor Studio led by Estelle Parsons - at some point asked the duo to perform at one of the most influential contemporary theaters in Italy, Teatro Vascello. The theatre has since then become RezzaMastrella’s home.

RezzaMastrella’s art-ignited life expresses itself in different ways, following concurrently a theatrical and cinema dimension. Many are the movie projects that the two artists have produced aside from their countless theatre pieces. NYC will soon have the chance to see them for the first time at La MaMa between 13 and 16 October 2016. Beware - you will no longer do without them!

Wednesday, September 21, 2016 a special focus on reading in Italian, through a staged reading of excerpts of I Vicini

After being a guest of the first edition of Italian Playwrights Project, Fausto Paravidino comes back to New York to embark on a new endeavor, a play to be written and staged during the second half of 2017. His writing process usually originates on scene, with actors directly testing the play over the course of a workshop.

Italian Playwrights Project– conceived by Umanism NY and Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at CUNY, in association with the Italian Cultural Institute of New York, proudly promotes Paravidino's writing process dedicating a special focus on reading, this time in Italian after last year reading in english by the translation of Jane House, through a staged reading of excerpts of I Vicini, a play which was selected for translation and English publication in 2015.

Special thanks to Kairos Italian Theatre for supporting the workshop.

"Neighbors" I Vicini - says Fausto Paravidino - is a piece on our fears. On our imaginary fears, on our real fears. On our real fears that are often our imaginary fears. In a rarefied and suspended atmosphere and suspended, two young couples meet and clash between the domestic walls.

Fausto Paravidino,

an actor, director, and playwright, was born in Genova, grew up in a small village in northern Italy, and now lives in Rome. His plays include Trinciapollo, Gabriele, 2 Fratelli, La Malattia della Famiglia M, Natura Morta in un Fosso, Peanuts (Connections, National Theatre, London), Genoa 01 (Royal Court Theatre, London), Morbid, Exit, Il Caso B, Il Diario di Mariapia, I Vicini (Thèatre National du Bretange, France), Il Macello di Giobbe (Teatro Valle Occupato), and They Were in My Field (Royal Court Theatre). Several of his plays were broadcast on Italian public radio. The movie he wrote and directed, Texas, was presented at the 2005 Venice film festival.

With these pictures i have intended to do a study of the reactions that may be experienced when a foot, which is not usually considered a means of introduction, is placed on somebody's face.

The initial contact with this part of our body represents an unusual way to meet for the first time, but it is both effective and direct as it does not require any sort of filter. the reaction to this kind of approach doesn't always generate a surprise response; indeed in many cases it appears to be completely normal.

The only true clear thing is the stretching and pressing on the skin of the face, the moving of the eyebrow or the pulling down of the lower lips. this freedom of expression is intended to lead to a practical outcome: to be yourself when you come into contact with another person.this is due to the fact that anything that appears to be different, alien to our experience, causes in us a reaction of detachement. therefore, in this case, the foot (the alien element) assumes an imposing value of "i'm here even though you dont' want to see me". As a consequence a new expressive language is formed. A universal code that can be easily understood by all, achieving the highest communicative level and involving more social strata.foot on the face tells the story of human beings that live their "contact" experiences with a lower world, namely the foot, wich is the support that allows an upright position. It is said that the shape of our feet reveals a lot about characteristic and various sides of our nature.

Valeria Orani is the Administrative Director of American Dream, a project by Karole Armitage host at Ravello Festival

American Dream by Karole Armitage is an evening excursus from native American dance to the dance of the greatest modern choreographers including tip-tap and freestyle influences. The programme brings to the stage the stars of the most prominent companies of the States, beginning with the New York City Ballet, who will perform an excerpt from Apollo, the most significant choreography of the neoclassical development of it founder father George Balanchine to the music of Stravinsky, in its 1928 version; the performance of a duet from Agon, again by Balanchine-Stravinsky, which debuted in 1957; as well as Armitage Gone! Dance, who will perform a fragment of Trio from a new version of Agon commissioned this year to the choreographer-director of the London Philharmonic, who is performing a Stravinsky programme conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Finally, the Armitrage group will bring to us Ligeti Essays (2007). Ailey II, “the next generation of dance”, will perform a repertory piece from their masterpieceRevelations, the piece entitled Wade in the Water (1960), with spirituals, gospel spngs and blues by Alvin Ailey, the Afro-American choreographer of the magnificent company named after him, a company whose aim it is to demonstrate the abilities of his people.A tribute will be paid to Martha Graham at Ravello by the versatile Richard Move, who is at home both in cabaret and in the theatre, his fame being associated with his great ability to recreate and reinterpret, with wit and bite, the performaces of the “Great Mother” of modern American dance.“Richard Move Marta @ Ravello” for the choreographer who has left her mark on 20th-century history will be a light entertainment during the whole evening event with its exhilarating contribution to the programme, , and it will demonstrate the finest techniques and repertory, from Acts of Light toAppalachian Spring, together with a 1931 “Grahamian” masterpiece of his company, Primitive Mysteries.The programme will be enhanced by a Panorama of Graham pieces (1935) made up of Theme ofDedication, Imperial Theme, Popular Theme with dancers from the Rome National Dance Academy and a duet from New Sleep (1987) by the brilliant American author William Forsythe, a maestro of post-classical ballet, performed by dancers of Dresden’s Semperoper.American Dream will conclude with a choral choreography commissioned exclusively for the Ravello Festival: a choreography from George Gershwin’s Summertime by Karole Armitage.The spirit of American Dream will be seen in another creative emotional event that opens itselfto the world that and that stands out in the festival programme: the evening event Cubanía en el Ballet, which unites artists from the Cuban national company with European and American companies , all in the excellent Escuela Nacional de Ballet, which brings “the family” together and alongside North American dancers in a felicitousreunion of names from the world of dance.

New York and Italian Artists To Connect in Week-Long - Contemporary Dance Performance and Art Event

ITALIAN DANCE CONNECTION (“IDACO nyc”), 2016 Festival Week, May 23-28, is the organization’s second annual contemporary dance and art event in NYC. A wide variety of artistic styles await audiences with over 20 dance companies, artists and filmmakers to participate. Dance workshops, creative residencies, thematic roundtables, site specifics, dance performances and an opening event at the Italian Cultural Institute are included in the event week. Events will be held in various locations; all dance performances are to be held at the Sheen Center, 18 Bleecker Street, NYC.

“IDACO nyc,” founded by Vanessa Tamburi and Enzo Celli, is curated and produced by FLUSSO dance project in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute New York and in partnership with Vivo Ballet – Anabella Lenzu/ DanceDrama – Umanism - INSCENA Festival - Mare Nostrum Elements/ECS - Valentina Celada.

The “IDACO nyc EXPERIENCE”May 25, 26, 27, 28 at 7:30pm at the Sheen Center, will present work dedicated to the innovative projects of Italian/international choreographers and artists. The “IDACO nyc EXPERIMENT,”at 5:30pm on May 28 at the Sheen Center, will feature experimental projects focusing on young, emerging Italian/international choreographers and artists. The “Experience & Experiment” evenings will also include film screenings and intermission dance performances in theater-specific spaces.

ITALIAN DANCE CONNECTION, “IDACO nyc,” is a platform for Italian artists visiting and living in New York, and for New York artists who want to take part in a dialogue with Italian culture, exploring and sharing their unique paths through movement, choreography and the visual arts. “IDACO nyc” seeks to encourage networking and artistic research between multiple creative resources, cross cultural boundaries and offer an artistic platform while cultivating a sense of shared identity. The organization hopes to create space for new collaborations and offer a supportive, inspiring and creative environment for dancers, movers, performance artists, video artists, musicians, and all creative people interested in the "art of movement."

“IDACO nyc” 2016 has the theme ID-ENTITIES, focusing on the disorienting and stimulating nature of cultural, gender, racial, ethnic and class differences. “IDACO nyc” wishes to contribute to a better understanding of cultural diversity.

THE “IDACO nyc” PROGRAM:

OPENING EVENT – ITALIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE Tuesday, May 24 at 6pm will include areception, program presentation, video screening and site specific performance. Italian Cultural Institute, 686 Park Avenue. Free and open to the public.

ABOUT IDACO nyc“The project IDACO nyc was born with the intent to create a festival to promote Italian contemporary and modern dance in the USA, a concept that hasn’t been thoroughly explored. In 2015, the first edition of this festival had a strong significance on the audience, stimulating their curiosity by presenting a unique collaboration between American and Italian artists in NYC, working independently or within organizations, coming from different disciplines and using a wide array of media. The curators boldly aimed for connecting artists, cultures, and communities, while presenting exciting work to their audience, bringing inter-cultural dialogue to the forefront, and encouraging a global vision of ART. In recent years, several Italian artists found a fertile creative ground in NYC, as the considerable stimulation of creative input the city offers represents an opportunity for many to question themselves and to grow. With this intention, IDACO nyc wants to give Italian contemporary dancers and choreographers the opportunity to bring their ideas abroad, connect with local artistic communities in NYC, and have their work seen and acknowledged in the USA.” – Vanessa Tamburi, Co-Founder and Artistic Director, IDACO nyc

The human figure and body movements are explored through a transposition from virtual to biological. Singularity and collectivity operate across both biological and computational contexts creating a visible manipulation of corporeal relation human-technology.

Complessità is a performance, conceived by Italian designer and digital artist Enrica Beccalli, that is a journey into the beauty of complexity and our role within it. The performer is at the mercy of complexity thanks to a wearable device that affects his movements by modifying his equilibrioception (sense of balance) according to the movements of an algorithm that visually simulates a flock of birds.Complessità is an innovative Interactive Dance Performance that invert the traditional human-machine relation: the human loses ownership of its movements and we enter a new dimension where the machine computes the moving human body. The interaction between human and machine loses its unilaterality and becomes (finally) mutual. The human figure and body movements are explored through a transposition from virtual to biological. Singularity and collectivity operate across both biological and computational contexts creating a visible manipulation of corporeal relation human-technology.This algorithm simulates the behavior of a flock of birds. Flocking behavior is exhibited when a group of birds, called a flock, are foraging or in flight.

In studying flocking behavior, it becomes clear there is no central control; each bird behaves autonomously, each bird has to decide for itself which flocks to consider as its environment and looks to the behavior of its fellow birds to determine its own. Humans are animals, too – collective animals at that. We flock. We look at the behaviors of others before acting ourselves and rely on the group when we don’t know what to do.

The performer is being connected to the flocking algorithm through a Galvanic Vestibular Stimulator (GVS). The flock direction is transposed to the performer through two electrodes positioned on the back of each ear. The electrostimulation of the inner ear causes an involuntary and immediate modification of the body direction by stimulating a specific nerve that maintains balance. This technology has been investigated for both military and commercial purposes. Here Enrica Beccalli wants to explore its effect on performing arts as a new typology and most of all to stimulate a discussion on human-computer interaction. The result of this electrostimulation of the inner ear is painless but dramatic.

Complexity is what govern us and our behavior, but its intangible characteristics make it very hard for us to understand and perceive that we are part of a whole and that there is a complex continuity of human nature with the natural world.

Enrica Beccalli said: “With this installation I want to raise awareness of the possible role of technology in modifying, altering and conditioning our behavior on a physical level”This project aims to show the beauty of complexity by letting the spectator explore the relation between singularity and collectivity, individuality and community, the part and the whole.

Complessità, in collaboration with Roula Gholmieh, was the closing act of the 2016 TFI Playground exhibit at the Tribeca Film Festival, April 16.

Complessità is a performance, conceived by Italian designer and digital artist Enrica Beccalli, that is a journey into the beauty of complexity and our role within it. In collaboration with Roula Gholmieh it will be the closing act of the 2016 TFI Playground exhibit at the Tribeca Film Festival, April 16.

TFI Playground exhibit at the Tribeca Film Festival, April 16

Complessità is an innovative Interactive Dance Performance that invert the traditional human-machine relation: the human loses ownership of its movements and we enter a new dimension where the machine computes the moving human body.

The interaction between human and machine loses its unilaterality and becomes (finally) mutual. (watch the video). With this installation I want to raise awareness of the possible role of technology in modifying, altering and conditioning our behavior on a physical level.

This project aims to show the beauty of complexity by letting the spectator explore the relation between singularity and collectivity, individuality and community, the part and the whole. The human figure and body movements are explored through a transposition from virtual to biological. Singularity and collectivity operate across both biological and computational contexts creating a visible manipulation of corporeal relation human-technology.

Why a flock of birds? This algorithm simulates the behavior of a flock of birds. Flocking behavior is exhibited when a group of birds, called a flock, are foraging or in flight. This pattern parallels the shoaling behavior of fish, the swarming behavior of insects, and herd behavior of land animals. In studying flocking behavior, it becomes clear there is no central control; each bird behaves autonomously.

In other words, each bird has to decide for itself which flocks to consider as its environment and looks to the behavior of its fellow birds to determine its own. Humans are animals, too – collective animals at that. We flock. We look at the behaviors of others before acting ourselves and rely on the group when we don’t know what to do. However, due to the expansive scale of humanity, this result is not at the forefront of our consciousness.

As a result, we as human beings are incapable of perceiving society as the sum of all behaviors as opposed to the actions of us as individuals. As Aristoteles said, “the whole is bigger than the sum of its parts” an idea that encapsulates how humans are limited and extremely self-destructive. In this concept you can find the heat of this project – making complexity readable and understandable. Understanding complexity means understanding life as a whole and our role within it.

The performer is being connected to the flocking algorithm through a Galvanic Vestibular Stimulator (GVS). The flock direction is transposed to the performer through two electrodes positioned on the back of each ear. The electrostimulation of the inner ear causes an involuntary and immediate modification of the body direction by stimulating a specific nerve that maintains balance.

This technology has been investigated for both military and commercial purposes but I want to explore its effect on performing arts as a new typology and most of all to stimulate a discussion on human-computer interaction. The result of this electrostimulation of the inner ear is painless but dramatic.

Complexity is what governs us and our behavior, but its intangible characteristics make it very hard for us to understand and perceive that we are part of a whole and that there is a complex continuity of human nature with the natural world. We tend to live and see life through a micro-scale without considering the impact of our behavior on a bigger scale, which is what influences our lives. In this performance the relation between individual and collectivity, the part and the whole, gains a legible scale: we are nothingness at the mercy of complexity.

Umanism and Design-Apartare partner of the international debut of Piercing Eyes Project in New York City.From December 10 to December 16 at Stillfried Wien Gallery, Manhattan.

Piercing Eyes | Distilled Art Pieces is a unique curatorial project that showcases selected contemporary art pieces made by some of the best Italian artists and designers.For the first time ever, New Yorkers can live the experience of bathing in a distillate of applied art, a selection of unique pieces where ancient artisan techniques meets contemporary materials and innovative production processes.